An Air New Zealand plane has been forced to make an emergency landing in Sydney after a technical issue en route from Christchurch.

Sydney Airport fire and rescue crews were on standby as Flight NZ221 touched down just after 9am on Friday.

Passengers were then stuck on the plane as it sat on the tarmac for about an hour before they were allowed to disembark.

“Emergency services met the aircraft on arrival as a precaution,” Air New Zealand chief safety and risk officer Nathan McGraw said.

“The aircraft landed safely, and our engineering team will now carry out inspections to ensure the aircraft is safe to return to service.”

Passengers told the Daily Mail that they were told about 20 minutes before landing that the plane had experienced hydraulic and steering issues over the Tasman Sea.

“Everyone seemed pretty calm – like, no one was really stressing about it,” one woman said.

“I’m glad that they told us kind of close to landing, not halfway through the flight – but yeh, we made it safely after a bit of a wait.”

Another passenger told the outlet that those on board were advised there was “a problem with the plane and no steering, which was a bit confusing”.

“There was just heaps of fire trucks and lights flashing and then we just pulled up and we were stuck there for an hour – it was a bit unsettling but it was OK,” she said.